FEMA

The ability to flip a switch or push a button and turn on a light is often touted as a symbol of our industrial society’s accomplishments. Flipping that switch represents the incredible infrastructure of our power grid that gives you access to power when you want it. And yet, in many cases, it doesn’t always… Keep reading →

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After Hurricane Sandy ravaged the Atlantic shoreline, my 88-year-old mother-in-law sat in her New Jersey home, unwilling to leave her things, for over a week with no electricity. Another friend of mine spent that same week waiting in gas lines to refill a generator and keep his brother’s small business going. These two examples don’t even include the truly unfortunate folks who completely lost their homes and businesses; they just lost their electric power.

There has been quite a bit of buzz about whether the “smart grid” and associated technologies and applications actually helped in the Sandy recovery efforts. They may have but I think we can do better. Keep reading →